By James, Design Development
I’m not sure how I feel about defacing books, but I think Jeremy May is doing something interesting here. He carves out a section of a book, laminates the sheets together to create high gloss jewelry. He then reinserts the finished jewelry into the book — into the exact space made when removing the materials for his latest design.
Each piece is a kind of glimpse into the pages when worn.
Lesser known in the US, Anne Valerie Hash graduated from the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in 1995, and worked as a designer for Chloé and Chanel, among others. She launched her own label in 2001. This year, her collection is inspired by classical draping, especially, it would seem, ancient Greek and Roman. Hash’s style is elegant, but among her more interesting designs are tee-shirts — an item that we associate with casual — with asymmetrical draping.
Banana Republic has capitalized on the Mad Men TV series, and its marketing power, to create new men’s and women’s lines. Janie Bryant, Mad Men’s costume designer, helped BR to understand the clothing of the period, and, of course, what made them sexy.
By James, Design Development
I’ve always thought that finding beauty in every day things helps us enjoy our life. I think sculptor Cal Lane may believe the same thing. She takes old metal things: car parts, fuel tanks, shovels, etc., and uses a blow torch removes pieces, creating beautiful patterns. She thinks of the objects as masculine, representing the industrial world, and brings these in touch with the feminine through the use of decorative patterns.
By James, Design Development
The world lost a friend this weekend. Clarence Clemons touched people through his music and his kind heart. Design and music are so closely linked as forms of expression and Clarence used his music to convey his feelings to us like few people could. His lifelong partnership with Bruce Springsteen gave us all a soundtrack that will allow us all to relive the important moments of our lives forever. I only saw him perform once, but Nancy, DW’s design director, had the pleasure of meeting him and speaks of him fondly. “We are all very sad. He was truly larger than life, not only in stature, but in his spirit and music. When he smiled he lit up the room and we all smiled with him.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
The costume department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, is currently holding a retrospective of the work of British fashion designer Alexander McQueen. The exhibition spans his career from the early 1990s to early 2010.
By James, Design Development
I love watches. My tendency is towards the big, complicated, technical watches, but these new ones from the British timepiece maker Uniformwares are beautiful in their simplicity. I love the clean lines and beautiful mixing of color and materials to achieve the look. They’re made with excellent materials and are even packaged wonderfully.
By James, Design Development
Photos done with film are rare these days, and the Polaroid is truly a dying art. Kodak no longer makes the film itself. Fuji and and independent group of people took control of old Polaroid manufacturing equipment to continue making Polaroid compatible instant films. This exhibit of Helmut Newton’s Polaroids is amazing because they’re all one of a kind images from an artist with an individual perspective.
Design Works Intl 